The Inuyasha Experience
by Dragonwing5
Summary: First in The Crossover Series. Two girls from the world you and I know today, are somehow transported between the barriers of time & space, and are dropped right into the world of one of their favorite Anime shows: Inuyasha. What's going to happen? R&R!
1. Prologue

Author's Note: Now, this is my first attempt at an Inuyasha fic. So I am asking everyone to bear with me, and to remember that many facts relating to the show may not be correct. But that's what reviews are for!  
~Dragonwing  
  
Prologue  
  
Karma was an average girl just out of college. She liked hanging out with her friends, working her job at the bookstore, and unlike most life forms her age, Karma liked anything to do with Anime. In fact, Karma and her best friend Tess were the top Anime.uh.experts in their hometown.  
  
Karma, (an exceptionally tall girl,) had EXTREMELY short honey colored hair, very tan skin and blue eyes. Tess, (an exceptionally short girl,) had a mass of red curls growing down to her waist, very white skin and green eyes.  
  
They had been friends since grade three, the year that both of them started becoming interested in anime. Now, at ages 24 and 23, Karma could draw any anime character imaginable and Tess could write fanfics and poems acclaimed all over the country. Even though their other friends had given up on the childhood hobby, neither Tess nor Karma had ANY intention of ever quitting.  
  
Now, you're probably wondering where this story is going. Well, you'll just have to read and find out. Won't you? 


	2. Karma, Tess & the Missing Disc

One  
  
"Karma!" Tess shouted, "Have you seen the disc with new fic. I wanted to put on our site on it?!"  
  
"No!" Karma sighed, jumping the last few steps leading to the loft of the apartment the two girls shared. The loft had become Karma and Tess's workshop, it was perfect for reading, writing, drawing, whatever they wanted/needed to do. "Do you remember what color it was?"  
  
"I think it was the red one." Tess pushed a handful of curls out of her face, "But I can't for the life of me remember where I put it."  
  
"We color coordinated these discs so we wouldn't get them mixed up," Karma sighed. "But that doesn't keep us from losing them!" Tess finished, leafing through a stack of papers. "I just don't get it, I had it right here last night."  
  
Karma turned from the drawer where she'd been looking, "Uh, Tess?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Did you put another disc under the mouse pad again?"  
  
"Of course I didn't.." she looked under the Sailor Moon mouse pad, "Oh..well..maybe I did." Karma raised an 'I told ya so!' eyebrow. "Quit that!" Tess snapped.  
  
"You're just jealous because you can't do it." Karma teased her best friend, "Now hurry up and put that fic up, I had at least eight messages yesterday asking when you were going to put it up."  
  
Tess flipped her hair back regally; "I can't help it if so many Internet frequenters like to read what I write."  
  
"Yeah," Karma pulled a few curls to bring her friend down off 'royal mountain', "And I'll bet half of them are 'net junkies that haven't been outside for three years and live on take-out."  
  
"You are really cruel, aren't you Karma?" The redhead laughed, whipping around in the swivel chair to put her fic up, "Your sense of humor can be so cynical I hardly know you. And then at other times it can be so dry and corny that I have to wonder if you listen to yourself when you speak!"  
  
"Really now?" Karma whapped Tess with an almost empty sketchpad, "I seem to recall YOU being the one who scared off that guy the other week with that particular joke about Vegeta and the squirrel."  
  
"Why you!" Tess swung around to retaliate, but Karma was already taking the steps two at a time, shouting: "I'll see ya after I get off work, only gotta work a half-day today! So we can go over that new Inuyasha tape this afternoon!"  
  
"Ok!" Tess called, already re-glued to the computer; "I taped all the new episodes for the past two months! It'll be great!" 


	3. Lightning

Two  
  
"Ok," Tess called when Karma walked through the door that afternoon. "We've got popcorn, we've got drinks, we've got tons of pillows, and we have at least ten new episodes of Inuyasha!"  
  
"Let me put my pack up first,"  
  
"Oh don't worry about that now woman! Just keep it with you, there's Anime to be watched!"  
  
"Let's get started then!" Karma laughed, grabbing a coke and plopping down next to her best friend. "Here we go, into the Land of Inuyasha!"  
  
"Exactly!" Tess, already on a sugar high, pushed in the video and turned up the volume. "Ah, what would we do without this kind of entertainment?"  
  
Two hours and six sodas later, "Did you hear that?" Karma asked.  
  
Tess paused the tape, "Hear what?"  
  
"Listen, I think it was thunder."  
  
"I still don't hear any--" A loud thunderclap boomed through the air, "Well maybe the storm is still a ways off--" Tess was cut off again when a streak of lightning crashed right across the street.  
  
"Maybe we should wait and finish this when the storm is over, Tess. We wouldn't want anything to happen to the tape, or the VCR for that matter."  
  
"Oh, c'mon Karma!" The redhead whined, pressing the play button. "Let's at least finish this episode. Sesshoumaru just starting attacking Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku! Look! He just injured Kilala! Please Karma?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Oh don't be such a mommy-type! Don't you want to see if they all live through this one or not?"  
  
"We already know they're going to live through this one, it'd be a short series if they didn't!" she sighed, "But you know me too well. I guess it'll be ok if we watch this one."  
  
"Yes!" Tess turned the volume up over the increasing thunderclaps.  
  
*The video blasted: "Stupid little Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru scoffed, "You honestly think you could beat me? How pathetic." "Die!" Inuyasha leapt towards the demon lord, sword blazing. *  
  
They're attacks clashed. A charge of lightning ran through the wires in the apartment. The screen blared white, hot light. A roaring sound drowned out the screams of the two friends as the light from the screen lashed out.  
  
In an instant the light cleared, the storm all but stopped. The T.V. screen was blank, and the place where Tess and Karma had been, was empty.  
  
Author's Note: Don't you just hate me for leaving it there? (pause for evil laugh) But don't worry, Chapter 3 is almost ready for publication. Let me know what ya think so far!  
  
~Dragonwing 


	4. Arriving

Three  
  
-The Tetsusaiga clashed against Sesshoumaru's poison claws, a light brighter than anything anyone had ever seen before blasted through the sky. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were thrown back. Kagome screamed, and everyone covered their eyes.  
  
-They were falling, they were so high up. Tess was clutching her best friend and Karma was clutching her bag. (It was the only other thing that had gone with them.) "What's happening??!!" Tess screamed.  
  
"I don't know!" Karma screamed back, "But whatever it is, I DO NOT like it!!!"  
  
"YOU don't like it! If we live through this I'm suing the guy who said we didn't need new wiring in the apartment!!!!"  
  
The ground was getting closer and closer. "Tess, I just want you to know that you're my best friend. And if I had to die like this, I'd rather die with you more than anyone else."  
  
"Oh, Karma!" The redhead sobbed, "You're my best friend too! And I want to tell you that I'm sorry I always kept losing your sketch pads!"  
  
"Apology accepted! Tess?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Am I going crazy from wind burn or are the characters from an Anime T.V. show watching us fall?"  
  
"Huh?" Tess looked down and could just barely make out five familiar shapes. Five familiar shapes they had been watching on T.V. right before the lightning hit they're home. "If you're going crazy then I'm going crazy Karma. 'Cause those ARE Anime characters!"  
  
"Another question,"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"How can we possibly be talking about this when we're about to die?!" Both of them started screaming and hugging again, and just when they thought they were done for...  
  
-"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, "Catch them, quick!"  
  
"Right!" Demon blood surging, Inuyasha pounced up into the air, sheathed the Tetsusaiga and caught the plummeting women. "Gotcha! Just hang on!" Dashing back around, the half-demon sped over to Kagome and dropped Tess and Karma at her feet.  
  
"Ooh!" Tess moaned, "Easy on the merchandise there pal!"  
  
"Feh," Inuyasha snorted, "Some gratitude."  
  
"Are you ok?" Kagome knelt beside the two strange girls that had just appeared out of nowhere. Helping them up, Kagome noticed something, "Hey! You're wearing modern day clothes!"  
  
"Really? I hadn't noticed." The redheaded girl snapped.  
  
Kagome stood back and took in the unexpected drop-ins. The red haired girl was very pale and very short. But her eyes were so green. The other girl popped her companion on the back of the head, "Lay off Tess." This girl had blonde hair cut VERY short. She was so tall Kagome had to tilt her head back to see into her blue eyes. Tess rubbed her head and sighed, "Fine, but if I ever have to do this again I'm going to kill somebody. And don't you forget it Karma."  
  
"I don't mean to interrupt," Kagome said, both girls looked at her. "But it's way obvious you're NOT from around here. Tess and Karma, right? Well, how did the two of you manage to drop from the sky?"  
  
"We're still working on figuring that one out." Karma said warily, "Thank you for catching us Inuyasha." Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku (and even Sesshoumaru from a distance) had been watching this spectacle up to that point.  
  
"Hey! How did you know my name?" Inuyasha peered at the two strangest females he'd ever seen.  
  
"We know a lot of things," Tess said matter-of-factly, "Except how we got here."  
  
"Oh dear," Sango said. "Yes," Miroku already going into perverted mode upon seeing two attractive young women fall from the sky, "And you must be so tired after such a confusing and trying episode. Please allow me to--"  
  
"Don't even start, Miroku." Karma eyed the monk, "We already know what a lecher you can be." Miroku's mouth dropped open, Sango burst out laughing, "They do know a lot!"  
  
"So I guess you know the rest of our names too, huh?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Yep," Tess sighed, "You're Kagome, and you're not from around here either. She's Sango, and the demon lord over there is Sesshoumaru."  
  
Inuyasha had completely forgotten, "Sesshoumaru!" Drawing his sword, the half-demon faced his brother. But Sesshoumaru was ignoring him and staring at the two human females his little brother had just saved. 'How is it they know all of those details, if they have never been here before?' He thought, 'It's intriguing. I shall have to have a talk of my own with one of them.' The demon lord turned, "Jaken!" The toady little servant crawled out of his hiding place, "Yes Milord?"  
  
"We're leaving,"  
  
"But Master! We have not gotten what we came for have we?"  
  
"No, but do not worry." Sesshoumaru stepped onto his cloud, (I don't know what it's really called so...) with Jaken scrambling up behind him, "We will be back very soon."  
  
"Get back here coward!" Inuyasha shouted, and started to jump up after him.  
  
Kagome sighed, "Sit boy!" Inuyasha landed flat on his face, "What was THAT for?!"  
  
"This isn't the time to go chasing anyone! We need to help Karma and Tess figure out how they got here. Now, let's go back to the village."  
  
"You think Lady Kaede will be able to help us, right?" Tess asked.  
  
"Yeah," Kagome couldn't imagine how they knew, "How did you know?"  
  
Karma hefted her pack over her shoulder, "We know a lot of things." 


	5. That's How They Got There, Possibly

Five  
  
"So lightning simply struck thy home and ye were here?" Kaede asked as she stoked the fire in her small hut.  
  
"Well," Karma said, not quite sure how to explain, "Kagome will understand this better, now but I'll try and explain anyway."  
  
"Don't worry," Kagome smiled, a sleeping Shippo in her lap. (He'd been at the hut with Kaede.) "I'll translate if it's needed."  
  
"Thanks. Anyway, see in our time, like Kagome's, wires are run through every house to help power anything that runs on electricity. When the lightning charged through all the wires, the shock reached us and....here we are."  
  
Kaede was still puzzled, "If it was only lightning that affected ye, how is it ye were sent to this particular time?"  
  
"Actually," Tess piped up, "I have theory."  
  
Karma raised an eyebrow, "You have a theory?"  
  
The redhead nodded proudly, "Yes I have a theory."  
  
"Well why didn't you tell me about it?"  
  
"Because, I hadn't finished it until just a little while ago."  
  
"Then would you mind sharing it with us?" Kagome asked, "Please?"  
  
"Well," Tess's ego satisfied for the moment, "Since you asked nicely."  
  
" 'Bout time," Inuyasha grumbled around a mouthful of ramen.  
  
"Hush," Sango sighed, "Tess, please continue."  
  
"Alright," She smiled, "Here is my theory. Now first of all, you all know that there is more than one time frame, right? Well, I can safely say we are from a time just a little bit farther in the future than Kagome. And what I believe is that someone in our time has a sort of...mental link to this time. To the futile era. This mental link allows this person to see everything that happens in this time, and when I say everything I mean EVERYTHING. He knows what the people of this time do, say, want and even think. But the thing is, he doesn't think it's real. He thinks it's just his imagination, like when you make up any story. "  
  
"That doesn't exactly sound like a good thing, knowing what we think." Miroku commented, "But if he doesn't think it's real that shouldn't have any relevance should it?"  
  
"Well you didn't let me finish Miroku." Tess drank some water and continued, "You're right, this person not thinking it's real honestly wouldn't matter except..."  
  
Kaede poured more water into Tess's cup, "Except what, child?"  
  
"Except that because he, or she mind you, didn't think it was real but thought it was interesting...well they decided to see what other people thought of it. Then, because other people liked it, they decided to turn it into well...."  
  
"Tess," Kagome's eyes got wider, "Please don't say what I think you're going to say."  
  
Clearing her throat, Tess mumbled, "They turned it into an animated television show."  
  
"WHAT!!!!!!!!??????" Kagome screamed so loud the hut's very frame shook. Inuyasha ducked and covered his sensitive ears. "Everything we've been saying, doing and THINKING since I've been here is on national television!!!????"  
  
"Actually," Karma said carefully, "It's global television."  
  
"Glo...glo...global television??!!" Inuyasha caught Kagome just as she fainted. Shippo was launched out of Kagome's lap and into Karma's.  
  
"Oh my," Kaede peered at her, "She'll be alright. But Karma, what is glo- bal tele-vi-sion?"  
  
"A television is a box with all kinds of wires and tubes and other parts in it that shows moving pictures and let's you hear the sound that goes with the pictures. One of these pictures comes on once a week, a new episode each time. It's called 'Inuyasha', and it shows everything that has happened since Kagome first came here. We were watching it when the lightning hit, that's why I think we got sent here."  
  
"Oh my..." Kaede murmured.  
  
"Oh wow..." Sango whispered.  
  
"Oh no..." Miroku moaned.  
  
"Oh my head..." Kagome groaned.  
  
"Oh for crying out loud!" Inuyasha snapped, helping Kagome sit up.  
  
"Oh what a trip this is gonna be." Karma sighed, looking down at Shippo. "I know things were far from boring before we got here, but now I've got a feeling NOTHING will be dull around here for a while."  
  
-"So Milord, when will we question those odd looking girls?" Jaken fidgeted around his master's feet, "We've been watching them all day, couldn't we just go down and take one of them?"  
  
"Poor, stupid Jaken." Sesshoumaru said softly, "We are waiting until they feel safe. Once they have let they're guard down, then we will find out what I want to know."  
  
"And what is that, Milord?" Jaken squeaked.  
  
"I want to know how they knew about my idiot half-brother and his friends. Also, I want to know how they knew about me. Two human females don't just fall from the sky and immediately know about the creatures they come in contact with. Humans are too simple minded to know so much."  
  
"That's true Milord, but I don't understand why it matters so much that they knew a few names."  
  
"You really do have mud for brains don't you Jaken?" Sesshoumaru scoffed, "They know more than names, and there's something about the taller one...There's something she knows that no one else does, and I intend to find out what it is."  
  
Author's Note: I'm still in the creative process here, so everyone bear with me please!  
Enjoy!  
  
~Dragonwing 


	6. Yoga Mornings

Six  
  
The sun was just rising when Karma slipped quietly out of the hut. Her pack in one hand and a blanket in the other she walked down to the edge of the river. 'It's so peaceful here,' She thought, spreading out the blanket. 'Almost makes me not want to go home. But we don't know exactly how we're going to get home yet...So I suppose I'm allowed to enjoy myself for at least today.' Karma took off her shoes and sat down. Reaching into her pack she pulled out a small tape recorder and made sure the right tape was inside. 'No reason I should break my usual routine just because we got warped back in time.' Making sure the volume was only loud enough for her to hear, Karma started the tape and took a deep breath.  
  
Tess was the last one to wake up, only because Sango shook her, "Tess, do you know where Karma is? She wasn't in the hut when the rest of us woke up."  
  
Pushing a tangle of curls out of her face, she mumbled: "There's a river near by right?"  
  
Kaede stirred the fire, "Yes child, just down the hill."  
  
"Then that's where Karma is."  
  
"What makes you so sure?" Miroku asked, still a little sour after Karma's 'psychic' rebuttal the day before.  
  
"Because," The redhead stood up and straitened her clothes, "Karma's entire family focuses on physical and spiritual well being. Hence her fate-based name. So every morning since she was six, Karma has found a peaceful spot and practiced yoga."  
  
"Yoga?" Sango asked, "What's that."  
  
"It's taking the time to breath deeply and stretch each muscle." Kagome explained, "One of my friends tried it once."  
  
"I just wonder if she's playing music," Tess said thoughtfully, "I can't remember if the tape recorder was in her pack or not."  
  
Kagome looked around, "Looks like Shippo's gone to find out."  
  
"Karma?" The little kitsune made his way down the hill, "Karma are you down here?" Shippo had immediately liked the tall human girl, and sleeping in her lap had been quite comfortable. Finally he spotted Karma, her eyes were closed and she had her arms up in a weird position. His sensitive little ears detected the faintest trace of music, it was coming from a small gray box next to his new friend. Being very quiet, Shippo slipped up behind Karma. She took a deep breath in and as she breathed out she moved her arms into another position. 'This is yoga?' The kitsune thought, 'Doesn't look like anything special.' Sitting down, Shippo decided to wait with her until she was done. Whatever she was doing, she was concentrating so hard on it she didn't even notice him. 'I wonder how long she'll do this?'  
  
-"Stupid little kit!" Jaken squawked, "That would have been the perfect opportunity to capture her!"  
  
"Patience Jaken," Sesshoumaru commanded, "If need be, we will take her when she is not alone. But if I hear one more complaint out of you, you will have something far worse to complain about."  
  
Cowering behind his staff, "Yes Milord! I will be patient. It is not my place to worry anyway, only you know what you want from her. I am but a servant."  
  
The demon lord barely glanced at Jaken, "Do not forget it." 'Soon. Soon I will know what she knows, and then she will be of no more use to me. She will be worthless.'  
  
"Finished?" Tess asked when Karma and Shippo came walking up to Kaede's hut.  
  
"Yep!" Shippo said, "I don't get yoga, it's boring."  
  
"Don't worry," The redhead smiled, "I never liked it either."  
  
"If you two are finished with whatever it is you were doing," Inuyasha interrupted, "WE'VE got jewel shards to find. But I suppose you knew that already."  
  
"Exactly," Tess said, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "And you better watch what you say to us--"  
  
The half-demon snorted, "Yeah? Or what?"  
  
"Or we'll tell a few other things we know. We've heard every thought you've had since Kagome got here, remember?"  
  
Grumbling under his breath, "C'mon Kagome, we've got shards to find."  
  
"Tess, Karma, why don't you guys come with us?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Sure!" Tess grinned.  
  
"Alright," Karma fastened her pack and slung it over her shoulder. "Let's go."  
  
"I can't believe this," Inuyasha muttered.  
  
"Look on the bright side," Miroku said, "Now we have FOUR attractive women traveling with us now."  
  
Karma's eyebrow shot up, "Dream on monk."  
  
"Yeah," Tess laughed as they started off, "Because the only time you'd be with any of us is in your dreams."  
  
"Be careful," Kaede called, "Karma and Tess being here may attract attention. Watch your steps."  
  
-"Oh! There they go Milord! Do we strike now?"  
  
"Yes," Sesshoumaru nodded, "Now is the time." 


	7. Kidnapped Nights

Seven  
  
-They traveled for two days with no sign of any jewel shards. They met up with plenty of demons, just no shards. "We're close to one now, I can feel it." Kagome said the morning of the third day.  
  
"That's what you said two days ago!" A grumpy Inuyasha snorted. "And we STILL haven't gotten any new jewel shards!"  
  
"Can't you just hush and enjoy the surroundings?" Tess sighed, "I mean, look at this beautiful field here. Makes me wish I was a ten-year-old girl again so I could roll down it just for fun."  
  
"You know," Miroku sidled up to her, "You can still roll down the hill--"  
  
One whap from Sango and the monk went sprawling down a hill, but not the soft one. "Careful," Tess called innocently, "Those roads are quite bumpy!" All the girls burst out laughing.  
  
Karma shook her head, "You love your work don't you Curly?"  
  
Tess grinned smugly, "Yes I do and don't call me Curly!"  
  
Miroku finally made it back up the hill, a large bump on his forehead. "Note to self: Avoid all redheads from now on."  
  
Sango gave him a hand with the last bit of the hill, "He'll forget that note in about two hours tops."  
  
-"Be ready to distract them Jaken."  
  
"Yes Milord," The toady little minion scurried around the edge of the field.  
  
Sesshoumaru silently made his way around the other side, making sure he was up-wind of his half brother. "It won't be long now."  
  
-Not knowing that they were being watched, the unusual party was still deciding what to do.  
  
"Let's just follow the road," Sango suggested.  
  
Miroku shook his head, "No, I think we should go back a ways."  
  
"Wait--" Kagome said, she closed her eyes for a second. "There's a jewel shard near by."  
  
Inuyasha's ears twitched up and back, "Which way?"  
  
"Towards the center of the field, near that grove of trees."  
  
"Let's go then!" The half-demon sped off.  
  
Kagome and the others started running, "Better catch up before he does something rash,"  
  
"Inuyasha? Do something rash?" Tess panted, "I'd never dreamed of such a thing."  
  
Inuyasha reached the grove, demon instincts taking over. He sniffed the air, there was a demon close by. An insect demon from the smell of it, but where did it go? He got his answer all too soon, and was knocked off his feet when a centipede demoness lashed her tail up from under him. She loomed over him, the jewel shard shining on her forehead. "Who dares to intrude?!"  
  
"I do!" Inuyasha jumped up and drew out the Tetsusaiga. The others reached them just as he began to attack. "Watch her tail!" Tess shouted, "She'll try to ring you in!"  
  
"What?!" The demoness hissed, "How did you know what I was going to do?!"  
  
"Yeah, how did you know that one?" Karma whispered.  
  
Tess whispered back, "We saw a preview for this fight at the end of the last episode, remember?"  
  
"Oh, right. Now I remember." The blonde nodded, "Inuyasha! Go right!" He took her advice right when the demoness lunged left, her back was to Inuyasha, and in one swift movement he cut off her head. A single jewel shard was flung forward, but two forms jumped for it. Jaken knocked the shard out of Inuyasha's reach, "I did it Milord!"  
  
Seeing they had been set up Inuyasha whipped around, the smell finally hit him. "Sesshoumaru!" But he was too late. The demon lord had slipped behind Karma right when Jaken had intercepted the shard. One arm was wrapped around Karma's throat, the other was holding a dagger against her ribs. "Move if you wish for her to die, little half-brother."  
  
"Let her go!" Kagome drew an arrow, "You have no business with her!"  
  
"Careful woman," Sesshoumaru warned, pressing the flat of the blade against Karma's side, "Do not tempt me. Put your weapons down."  
  
Inuyasha started forward, "You--!"  
  
"No!" Kagome said, throwing down her bow. "Just do what he says."  
  
"Kagome--!"  
  
"Inuyasha, please."  
  
Growling, Inuyasha sheathed his sword.  
  
"Excellent," Sesshoumaru stepped back onto his cloud. (Could somebody PLEASE tell me what that thing is called??) "Come Jaken!"  
  
"Yes Milord!" The toad ran over and scrambled onto the cloud.  
  
They started to lift into the air. Sesshoumaru nodded, "Thank you for being so cooperative. Farewell."  
  
Tess ran after them, "Karma!!"  
  
Karma struggled against the demon's arm, "Tess!!"  
  
-"Sshh," Sesshoumaru whispered softly, "Struggling would only worsen your situation."  
  
Still struggling, "Ha! I seriously doubt this could get much worse!"  
  
Twisting Karma around he slid the dagger down her side, ripping her shirt and nicking the skin. "Oh believe me," Cold eyes bore down into hers, "It could get much, much worse." 


	8. Questions

Eight  
  
-"Karma!!" Tess screamed, trying desperately to catch up with her friend, "Karma!" But soon they were out of sight. She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face, "Karma..." Tess felt a soft touch on her shoulder, "Don't worry," Kagome said gently, "We'll get her back, I promise."  
  
"So," Tess gulped between tears, "You think there's a chance?"  
  
Kagome looked at the spot in the sky Karma had been, then looked back at the distraught Tess. She couldn't have sounded more sure, "Yes."  
  
-"An excellently executed plan Milord!" Jaken cheered, teetering around his master's feet. "Those poor fools never knew what hit them! Everything went according to plan!" Sesshoumaru barely nodded, his hand still griped Karma's arm.  
  
The little toad continued excitedly, "And the look on their faces when you grabbed the girl right out from under their noses! That simpleton redhead looked like a--"  
  
"Shut up you stupid little pond frog before I toss you overboard!" Karma snapped.  
  
Jaken's jaw dropped, "Lord Sesshoumaru! You're not going to let her talk to me that way are you?!"  
  
"Actually I was about to suggest something quite similar." The demon looked down at his shocked minion, "Your prattle does become tiresome Jaken."  
  
-"So," Miroku addressed the group, "What are we going to do?"  
  
"Well," Kagome handed a cup of hot soup to Tess, "Before we figure that out don't you think we should find out where he actually took her?"  
  
"Uh..." Miroku looked at Inuyasha.  
  
"How should I know?" The half-demon growled, "If I knew where that damnable Sesshoumaru's been hiding I would've slaughtered him by now!"  
  
"No need to bite anyone's head off." Sango said. She turned to Tess, "Don't worry, we'll find out where he is."  
  
Tess's tears renewed their flow, "But how?" she sobbed, "How are we going to find out where he is? Oh this is all my fault! If I had never made Karma leave the television on, we wouldn't have ended up here, and this wouldn't have happened!!"  
  
"No one's disagreeing with you," Inuyasha grumbled.  
  
Tess burst into fresh tears. "Inuyasha!" Kagome glared at him, "SIT!" The half-demon's face planted into the ground.  
  
"Now," Sango said calmly, "How ARE we going to figure out where Sesshoumaru is going?"  
  
"Well," A tiny voice said from Miroku's shoulder, "Let's look at the facts."  
  
"Myouga!" Kagome peered at the fair-weather flea, "How long have you been there?"  
  
"Long enough to know you have no idea how to rescue your new friend."  
  
"Oh!!!" Tess moaned.  
  
"You could be a little more subtle," Kagome sighed, "And since you think you're so smart, where is he?"  
  
"It's very simple," the flea hopped onto Sango's knee, "Sesshoumaru is the Lord of the Western Lands. Correct?"  
  
"Yeah..." Inuyasha growled, "So?"  
  
Myouga sighed, "All brawn and no brain, eh Inuyasha? If he is the Lord of the Western Lands, then he MUST have some sort of home in his domain!"  
  
"But where EXACTLY would it be?" Sango asked.  
  
"My guess is that its as far West as he could get, or it may be at the very edge of his lands. We'll just have to search everywhere in his territory."  
  
"Do you have any idea how long that will take?!" Inuyasha shouted, "Karma will be dead by the time we do all that!"  
  
Tess began sobbing with renewed vigor, Kagome shouted "SIT", and Myouga raised his voice above all of it. "It's settled then! This is the only relevant plan we have. It's getting late, best to get some rest and start looking in the morning."  
  
"Alright," Sango moved to help Kagome calm the distraught redhead, "But this had better work."  
  
Miroku nodded, "Yes, all we can hope for now is that Karma is alive and well."  
  
-"Hey! Watch it!" Karma snapped as she was unceremoniously dumped on the ground.  
  
"Quiet human!" Jaken sneered, "Lord Sesshoumaru has decided we will rest here for the night. Obviously your puny little human body can't take such traveling measures."  
  
Karma swatted the toad, "Obviously you have a brain the size of a lima bean!"  
  
"Jaken," Sesshoumaru said quietly.  
  
The servant teetered over to his side, "Yes Milord?"  
  
"Build a fire."  
  
"But...But we've never needed a fire before--"  
  
Sesshoumaru's voice left no room for argument, "We have never had a live human with us before either, and it's getting chilly. Build a fire."  
  
"Very well Milord, but I still don't see why--"  
  
The demon got a dangerous look in his eyes, "Humans cannot survive harsher conditions. It's one of the many reasons they are so weak. And it will be awfully hard to find out what I want to know if she is dead."  
  
"Of course!" Jaken babbled, "Right away Milord!" He scrambled off to gather wood."  
  
"Now then," Sesshoumaru turned to Karma, "How is it you know so much when you obviously have never been here before? How much do you know? This will not take very long if you cooperate."  
  
Karma stood up, drawing herself to her full height and looked him right in the eye. "I know a lot of things Sesshoumaru. And I'm not telling you anything."  
  
The demon lord's voice was deadly soft, "You'll regret that statement."  
  
A defiant eyebrow shot in the air, "Try me." 


	9. Fall

Nine  
  
-The next morning they started searching, and made about as much progress as molasses going downhill.  
  
"This isn't going very well is it?" Sango sighed.  
  
"Maybe we should split up," Miroku suggested, "We'd cover more ground that way."  
  
"Ok," Kagome said, "How about Tess come with Inuyasha and me. Then Myouga can go with Shippo, Sango, and Miroku."  
  
"Fine," Myouga hopped onto Shippo's shoulder, "We'll start looking through the upper half of the Western lands, you start with the lower half and we'll meet in the middle to report if we found anything useful."  
  
"Right," Inuyasha squatted down to let the two girls on his back. "Let's go!" Kagome and Tess held on tight as the half-demon sped off.  
  
"I guess we had better get going too," Sango said, strapping her travel pack to Kagome's bicycle.  
  
"Yep," Miroku lifted Shippo and Myouga onto the bike seat, "Let's get going."  
  
-"Just what are YOU doing?" Jaken crept up on Karma as she rummaged through her pack.  
  
She didn't even turn around, "None of your business."  
  
"Well I think it is my business," The toad came around in front of her, "You are Lord Sesshoumaru's prisoner and it is my job to make sure you stay in line!"  
  
"Too bad," Karma stood up and slung her pack over her shoulder.  
  
She pushed past Jaken, "Milord! Milord!" He cried, "She is trying to escape!" Sesshoumaru looked down from the tree he was in, he'd been judging how long it would take them to get to their destination. He jumped down in front of Karma, "I don't think so."  
  
"I'm not 'escaping'!" Karma sighed, glaring at Jaken. "I thought I saw some water before we landed here and I haven't had a bath in three days. You do the math!" She veered around Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Milord!" Jaken tittered over to his side, "How do we know she won't escape after she takes a bath?"  
  
"For crying out loud!" Karma whipped around, "I won't try to escape. I need a bath, I NEED to calm down. Because if I don't calm down soon I'm liable to shove that toad's staff down his throat!"  
  
Jaken looked taken back. Sesshoumaru looked amused.  
  
"Look," she sighed, "I'm not usually a threatening person, but if I don't get the chance to calm myself down it's not pretty. And it's not like I'm sticking around because I'm going to answer any of your questions, because I'm not. I have not earthly idea where I am. Once I learn my way around, THEN I'll try to escape. Right now I'm too wound up. Now, if there will be no more protesting from the toad patrol, I'm going to take a bath." Karma turned around and headed into the trees.  
  
"You're not really just going to let her go are you Lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken asked feebly.  
  
"Of course not," Sesshoumaru looked down at him, "You are going to follow her."  
  
"Of course---What!?"  
  
"Not all the way, just far enough so you can hear what she is doing."  
  
"Uh...Yes Milord." Jaken scrambled off after Karma.  
  
-"Let's stop and rest for a minute Inuyasha." Kagome pleaded, "We've been at this ALL DAY with no food or anything."  
  
"Yeah," Tess was smart enough to know they needed to eat, "Aren't you the least bit hungry?"  
  
"Now that you mention it..." Inuyasha screeched to a halt, "I'm starving!"  
  
"Fine, let's eat some dinner and rest up. Then we'll keep looking." Kagome started gathering bits of wood for a fire."  
  
"I don't see why you two need to rest." The half-demon snorted, "You've been riding on MY back the whole time."  
  
"Do you want supper or not?" Tess asked sweetly, "'Cause if you do you'd better be a lot nicer to us, we're the ones who do all the cooking."  
  
"Feh..." Inuyasha muttered, but he didn't complain any more. At least for a little while anyway.  
  
-"Stupid little toad." Karma muttered as she trekked through the woods, "It must be a crime to take a bath now." Finally she found a small hot spring, "Thank you!" Karma opened her pack and starting looking for some soap.  
  
Jaken hid a few yards away behind a bush, "I can't believe Lord Sesshoumaru is making me baby-sit this stupid girl. After all of the work I do for him, after all of the important tasks--" Suddenly Jaken heard a scream, Karma's scream! "Oh!" He scurried toward the spring, reaching it just in time to see Karma scramble away from a huge lizard demon that had been hiding in the water. It leapt out of the pool and lunged after Karma hissing, "Food! FOOD!"  
  
"Oh no!" Jaken shouted, "Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru!! Come quick!!!" Sesshoumaru's demon ears picked up his servant's shouting and he shot towards the sound. "What is it?" But Jaken didn't even have to answer, he'd come up just in time to see the lizard demon chase Karma into the forest. Faster than a thought the demon lord raced into the forest after Karma. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" The toad toddled after them, "Wait for me!"  
  
Karma stumbled through the brush, her lungs were on fire and she didn't know how much farther she could run. The lizard demon had just sprung out of the water while she'd been looking for some lousy soap. 'I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!' Karma thought franticly.  
  
"How could she possibly get herself into this much trouble in the space of an hour?" Sesshoumaru growled. Karma screamed again and he quickened his pace. He came to a clearing where the forest ended in a cliff. The lizard demon was holding Karma over the edge, her pack dangling from one leg. Jaken finally caught up, panting fiercely. "I'll let you handle this one Milord!" The toad plopped onto the ground.  
  
"Food!" The lizard screamed.  
  
"Not for you." Sesshoumaru jumped on the demon's back and sank his poison claws into its neck. The lizard howled in pain, trying to throw the other demon off. "Food!" It whipped its head around and sank it's fangs into Karma's arm. Karma cried out as the demon's venom sank into her skin, closing the bite wound behind it and trapping the poison inside her body. Karma suddenly felt like her whole body was made of rubber, only it wouldn't stretch. Sesshoumaru struck the demon again and she had this vague sensation of falling and something wrapping around her, before everything went dark.  
  
Sesshoumaru jumped and barely caught the falling Karma, but the lizard went surging over the cliff. It hooked a claw through Karma's pack, pulling the demon lord and the human girl over the edge. 


	10. No Idea

Ten  
  
-Karma woke to a dull throbbing pain on the side of her head, and yet she felt warm. Safe even. She opened her eyes, to find herself wrapped tightly, in an unconscious Sesshoumaru's arms. Karma briefly wondered what had happened, before she fell back into a deep sleep.  
  
-Sesshoumaru's shoulder was screaming at him, 'You idiot! Why did you take that fall like that?! For that girl? What on earth could she possibly mean to you?'  
  
"I don't know," he mumbled, opening his eyes to find Karma in his arms. Blood trickled from a wound just above her temple and ran down her face like tears. She was deathly still. 'Death!' No, she couldn't be dead! Franticly, he pressed a sensitive ear to her chest and breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the steady beat of her heart. It was just light enough for him to see Karma. Looking at her face, he saw movement behind her eyelids. Karma sluggishly opened her eyes and looked at him dully for a second. Realization kicked in and blue eyes snapped open.  
  
"What happened?" she asked, the bit of energy she'd had was spent on waking up. "I'm not completely sure," Sesshoumaru sighed, "We fell a good ways though." He gazed into her unusual eyes.  
  
"Oh..." After a moment, "What are you staring at me for?" Karma raised a questioning eyebrow, pain resulted. "You're bleeding." He said, sitting up with her still in his arms. He hadn't even considered letting her go; but then again she'd fall over if he did. "Here," Ignoring the fire and ice searing his shoulder, Sesshoumaru unwrapped one of his arms and tore a strip of cloth from his shirt. "Hold still, this may hurt." He felt her back go ridged and heard the sharp intake of breath as he pressed the material against the cut. But Karma didn't scream or push his hand away. So, propping her up with his leg, he tore another strip and began to wipe the "tears" from her face.  
  
"You don't have to do this, I can clean myself up." She said.  
  
Still wiping and pressing, "Can you even lift your arm?"  
  
"Of course I can lift my arm!" Karma snapped. And, of course, she could barely get her hand off the ground. "What the..?!"  
  
"That demon's poison got into your system." He tossed both rags aside and ripped off two fresh ones, "Even poisoned, you are still one of the most stubborn females I've ever met."  
  
"Oh and you're the Patron of Patience?"  
  
A wry smiled twisted his lips, "I suppose not, but you have to admit that you far surpass me when it comes to being hardheaded." Sesshoumaru tossed the rags and ripped off yet another two.  
  
"You're not going to have a shirt anymore at this rate." Karma noted absently, "I didn't think that much blood could come from one head anyway."  
  
"Well it can."  
  
They were both silent as he finished cleaning the wound as best he could. "We'll find some water soon and clean it more thoroughly." Sesshoumaru tore off the last bit of what once was the front of his shirt and wrapped it tightly around Karma's head.  
"Thank you," she said, her eyelids beginning to droop. "Just go to sleep Karma, you must sleep to help the poison wear off."  
  
"Alright..." she murmured. Then, Karma momentarily shocked the demon when she laid her head on his shoulder and curled up as much as the poison would allow. She then fell into a deep, deep sleep.  
  
Sesshoumaru slipped his arms around Karma. He thought suddenly. 'What DO I feel for this girl?'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Some time later, Karma woke up lying beside a crackling fire. Head buzzing dully, she tried to sit up. Only to be immediately, but gently, pushed back down by the demon sitting next to her.  
  
"Hey! What was that for?" She tried unsuccessfully to sit up again.  
  
"You shouldn't get up yet," Sesshoumaru said, keeping his hand on her straining shoulder, "The poison is not completely through your system yet. You will become sick again if you sit up."  
  
Karma snorted indignantly. Sesshoumaru smiled. She glared up at him, "It's not funny you know." But she did stop trying to sit up, for the moment anyway.  
  
The demon found her manner very amusing, "Well, most ladies wouldn't make a sound like that."  
  
Still glaring, she snapped: "Well I'M not 'most ladies'!"  
  
Sesshoumaru looked down into her eyes, suddenly WAY too serious for the conversation type, "I could have told you that." He was looking at her so...so intensely. Blushing furiously, Karma jerked her eyes away and stared into the fire.  
  
After a while, "We're in a different place than before, aren't we?"  
  
"Yes.how could you tell?"  
  
"Well for one thing," Karma tilted her head in his direction, "There were a lot of leaves in the last place we were at. I could smell them, plus they were really itchy."  
  
'How,' Sesshoumaru thought, 'How could she remember all of this? She could barely lift her arm, let alone look at her surroundings.'  
  
"Also," she continued, "I could see stars at the other place, we're in a cave. The fire here is illuminating the walls... Plus," Karma glanced at him to make sure he was paying attention, "It's a lot more uncomfortable here, grass is much more preferable than stone when it comes to sleeping."  
  
Finally, she felt the buzz in her head beginning to fade; "Can I sit up now?"  
  
"Hmm..." Sesshoumaru felt her forehead, "Yes, but do it slowly."  
  
"Well, duh." Karma gently eased herself up, wincing when her spine cracked. She watched him as he leaned over to poke at the fire. "You're hurt!" Karma cried, seeing the rush of fresh blood streaking down his back for the first time. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've done something to help."  
  
"You could barely sit up, besides it doesn't hurt that much." His shoulder jerked as the fire crackled, pain raced up his neck and down his back.  
  
"Liar!" Karma struggled onto her knees, "One look at your face and a stump could tell you were in pain."  
  
"Stumps can't see anything." Sesshoumaru tried to move away, but another jolt of pain shot through him.  
  
"How do you know?" Karma crawled behind him and tried to look at the wound, "That's only what you've been told, not what you've found out for yourself."  
  
His strength was starting to slip from exhaustion. (Exhaustion from taking care of Karma, and exhaustion from arguing with Karma.) 'This is ridiculous!' He thought, 'Who cares whether I've learned whether a stump can see or not!?'  
  
"Just get away from me you stubborn, little--"  
  
"Hey!" She cut Sesshoumaru off, "True, I may be stubborn. But I am nearly as tall as you, so you can't call me little." Slipping back around the struggling demon lord, Karma got a hold of his sleeve and pulled it down. Her eyes met a sickening gash that ran from the top of his shoulder, down to the center of his back. It had to be at least three inches deep and no less than an inch wide at it's smallest point!  
  
"Oh!" Karma gasped, "I should have looked at this sooner!"  
  
"What would you have done?" The, now angry, demon spat. "Would you have tried to cool it off with your eyelashes? No, you would have sat there, unable to do anything. You would have fretted like the LITTLE human you are and wouldn't have gotten any better yourself, you would have gotten worse. Because like I said, that poison can only wear off with sleep!"  
  
"Well I can do something NOW!" Karma pushed all her weight on his good shoulder, "Now sit down, shut up, and let me take care of this before something gets into it and YOU get worse!"  
  
The last of his energy sapped away, Sesshoumaru grudgingly sat down. As soon as he stopped struggling, he lost the ability to hold himself up altogether to exhaustion. Too late to catch the falling demon, Karma was squished and the gash started to bleed all over again. All over her. "For crying out loud!" Karma heaved Sesshoumaru's limp body up; he gritted his teeth but couldn't hold back a small cry of pain. She then gently turned him over on his stomach. After moving his hair and tail out of the way, Karma stripped off the remains of his top. Keeping the clean parts, she left the sleeves whole and tore she rest into strips. "This may hurt, Sesshoumaru." Karma warned before starting to wipe the blood from around the wound.  
  
"Aaghh!!" Ripping hunks of rock out of the cave floor, Sesshoumaru tried desperately not to show how much pain he was really in. "Aaagghhh! Damn!" It wasn't working too well.  
  
"Ssshhh" Karma soothed, "I know it hurts, but I'm almost finished getting the excess blood off. Just be patient."  
  
"EXCESS blood? Be patient?!" Sesshoumaru hissed, "Being patient isn't going to take the pain away is it now?!"  
  
"No," she tossed the rag she was using into a growing, blood-soaked pile and picked up a new one, "But neither is complaining about being patient."  
  
"I just don't understand you." He mumbled into the cave floor.  
  
"Trust me, the feeling is more than mutual. Ok, I'm finished cleaning for now. But what we really need is some water."  
  
"There's a stream nearby." Even talking was becoming an affliction on his health. "And your 'pack' is at the cave entrance."  
  
"Alright, that's very helpful. Just try and rest while I'm gone."  
  
'Easier said than done.' Sesshoumaru thought bitterly, 'Why is this girl helping me anyway? She could have run away back to her friend and my stupid half-brother by now.'  
  
'You know,' A small part of his brain said absently, 'You couldn't really call her a "girl". After all, she is at least twenty-something...'  
  
'Shut up! What on earth could possess you to think that?'  
  
'Take a guess!'  
  
'What guess? She's a human!'  
  
This mental conversation was forgotten when Karma came back into the cave with her pack and two containers she had filled with water. Sesshoumaru noticed something; "You changed."  
  
"Well, yeah." There went the eyebrow, "I had a change of clothes in my bag and the ones I was wearing had more blood and dirt on them than I don't know what. So, I changed." Karma knelt beside him and took a little bowl out of her pack. Pouring some water into it, she soaked one of the sleeves and began to clean the gash more thoroughly.  
  
"Well," Karma sighed, when she was through cleaning, "It looks like there's just no way around it."  
  
"No way around what?" Sesshoumaru asked warily.  
  
"Well, I know that you heal faster because you're a demon--"  
  
"You know a lot of things." He laughed hoarsely.  
  
"Yeah," she smiled and gave him some water before continuing, "But this wound is too bad to leave open even for a short time." Karma sighed, "I'm going to have to sew it up."  
  
"Terrific." Sesshoumaru said dryly, "You have a needle and thread?"  
  
"Yep, Tess is big on making sure we're prepared for anything."  
  
"Lucky me."  
  
"Lucky you?" Karma gawked, "What about me? I can sew up a hole in a pair of pants, but I've never sewed through..." She swallowed, "FLESH before!  
  
"There's a first time for everything, Karma." Sesshoumaru gripped a fresh handful of cave floor, "Just get it over with."  
  
"Ok." She threaded the needle, and then, taking a deep breath, she began to push it in and out. The need to throw up was overwhelming, but Karma knew she had to finish this. She hated to see anyone hurt this badly, even if they didn't exactly like her or treat her so good. A thought popped into her head, "Hey, Sesshoumaru?"  
  
"What?" The very unhappy demon lord hissed.  
  
Still sewing, "Why did you save me? I mean, you could have let that other demon kill me. It's not like I'm useful to you or anything."  
  
'Why did I save her?' He thought, then aloud: "Because you still haven't told me how you know what you know. And until you do, you are of some small use to me."  
  
'That's not the real reason.'  
  
"Oh..." She was almost done, thank goodness. "I thought as much, but I'm still not going to tell you."  
  
"And WHY NOT!?" Her consistent refusal to tell him what he wanted to know was only fueling his temper. It was bad enough he was depending on her "help", but even now after he'd saved her life Karma wouldn't say what he wanted her to!  
  
"Because up until just recently you have been rude, conceited, overbearing, pushy and snobby with me in every single way. And I refuse to tell anyone anything they want to know if they treat me that way."  
  
Sesshoumaru spoke so softly she could barely hear him. "I've been that terrible have I." It was a statement, not a question. He knew the way he'd been.  
  
"Yes," Karma knotted the end of the thread, but she couldn't seem to break it. "Tess told Kagome and Lady Kaede everything because they were friendly and didn't treat us like prisoners." She didn't want to rip the seam, but the thread just wouldn't break! "I'm done, but I can't get this stupid thread to tear!"  
  
"Are you that clueless?" He sighed, "If you can't break it, then bite it."  
  
"BITE it?" Karma said doubtfully.  
  
"Yes, bite it."  
  
"Bite it..." She repeated softly.  
  
"Bite it already!!"  
  
"Hey! I was thinking about the best way to go about it without ripping the seam! Unless you want me to just attack it and undo all this."  
  
"No! Fine, find the best way." 'But she'd better hurry up!'  
  
It took a few minutes, but finally: "Ok, I think I see the best way to do this."  
  
"Then get on with it!"  
  
"Don't be such a baby, Sesshoumaru." Karma carefully held the thread, as close to the skin as she felt was good. Then stretching it tight, she lowered her head down and bit as hard as she could.  
  
Sesshoumaru gripped the cave floor when he felt the string tighten. A few strands of Karma's soft hair swept across his back and in one swift motion and the thread was severed.  
  
Sitting back and checking her handy work, Karma breathed a sigh of relief. "Glad that went well."  
  
"Well for you. You weren't the one who had to be sewed up like a turkey."  
  
"Better a LIVE turkey than a dead one." She laughed, "Personally I think I did an exceptional job sewing up this particular bird."  
  
Growling slightly, the demon tried to push himself up. Only to shoot back down when fresh pain raced through every stitch. 'I can't believe this!'  
  
"Here," Karma said, "Let me help you."  
  
'I really can't believe this.' Before he could protest she was already determining the best was to get him up without stretching his back too much.  
  
"Alright, I think this will be the best way to get you up." Karma lied down on her stomach and scooted up to Sesshoumaru's side.  
  
"What are you doing?" He snapped. 'How long will you be doing it?' He thought, 'Stop thinking like that right now! She is a HUMAN!'  
  
Rolling blue eyes, "I'm helping you get to a more comfortable position. Unless you want to just lie on your face the rest of the night?" Again not waiting for an answer, Karma pulled his arm over her shoulders, "Now, lean on me and we'll both push up."  
  
"Alright." He sighed. 'Why does she keep helping me?'  
  
After much grunting and groaning, heaving and pulling, they finally managed to settle the demon lord against the cave wall somewhat comfortably.  
  
Karma stood up and dusted her clothes off. "Are you hungry?"  
  
"Starving."  
  
"Ok, I'm going to go find us something." She picked up her pack.  
  
"If you run away I can still go after you." He growled, "I'm not that hurt."  
  
"Oh," Karma cried sarcastically, "I had no idea you cared so much!" Laughing, she made her way out of the cave, "Don't worry, I have no idea where I am. Besides that, I'm hungry too. Oh my," Karma picked up her joke again as she went out, "I had no idea!"  
  
'No,' Sesshoumaru thought. Suddenly, he was starting to feel unexplainably sad. 'You really have no idea. And neither do I.' 


	11. Different Kinds Of Fear

Eleven  
  
Sesshoumaru shook Karma awake. "Come on."  
  
"Why?" Karma mumbled before burying her head into her arms in an attempt to go back to sleep.  
  
"We're leaving." The demon tossed Karma's pack in her lap. "Let's go."  
  
"WHY are we leaving?" The disgruntled blonde protested, scrambling after him, "It's still dark! Can't we at least sleep 'till dawn?"  
  
"No." Sesshoumaru was being strangely vague, "We HAVE to leave now." His cloud floated down out of no-where.  
  
"Sesshoumaru," Karma said slowly, "What's going on--?"  
  
The demon turned, he looked...anxious. Or as close to "anxious" as Sesshoumaru can get, which isn't much. But it was enough to make Karma wonder what was happening to make the fearless demon---for lack of a better word---fidgety. He motioned for her to get on. Karma hesitated, "Couldn't you at least tell me why we are leaving a perfectly safe place in the middle of the night?"  
  
The demon looked at her icily, back to his old self. "It does not concern a captive when her captor chooses to leave. Now get on."  
  
An eyebrow slowly shot up, "And it is the 'captive's' right to know where she is being carted off to, and she WILL be told or she will make it very difficult for the 'captor'."  
  
They glared at each other for several seconds. Sesshoumaru refused to tell the human where they were going, and Karma refused to budge until she knew. The demon sighed exasperatedly, "I didn't want it to come to this, but..." Faster than Karma could ever follow, the demon slipped around behind her and hoisted the protesting girl over his shoulder. "You simply refused to cooperate."  
  
"Hey!" Karma squirmed and struggled, "I am NOT a sack of potatoes! Put me down! Put me--" Reverting to a last resort, Karma drove her elbow into Sesshoumaru's back. "--DOWN!"  
  
The demon all but threw Karma onto the cloud. Even landing on a cloud could knock the wind out of you, believe it or not. Struggling to regain her breath and sit up at the same time, Karma glanced at Sesshoumaru. One look at his face and she could tell she'd just made a big mistake. The demon was livid. His teeth were bared, his clawed hands clenched into fists and his eyes were turning steadily redder and redder. For the first time since she'd been kidnapped and the lizard demon had tried to eat her-Karma was really, truly scared.  
  
* * *  
  
"Well look what we've got here." Inuyasha smirked as he caught the struggling Jaken. "A little toad just full of information."  
  
Jaken squirmed and yelled, "Let me go! I'll never tell you anything! Lord Sesshoumaru will destroy all of you when he hears about this!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah." The half-demon gave the simpering servant a good shake. "Now tell us-Where is Karma?"  
  
"I'll never tell! In fact, I don't even know!"  
  
"What do you mean you don't even know?" Kagome demanded.  
  
Inuyasha tightened his grip. "Lord Sesshoumaru and the girl are gone!" Jaken gasped, his green skin was starting to turn blue. "They fell and I couldn't find them!"  
  
"Fell?" Tess screamed, "FELL?! What do you mean they 'fell'?!"  
  
"Follow the path to the next hot spring!" Jaken pointed a knarled finger, "I'm telling you, they fell!"  
  
"We'll see if you're telling the truth." Inuyasha, Tess and Kagome went up the path until they came to a small spring. A path had been knocked into the woods near it by something big, VERY big.  
  
Inuyasha's sensitive nose picked up several scents, "They were here, so was a lizard demon." They ran down the lizard-made path until they came to the cliff. Signs of battle marked the area. Dry demon blood spattered the ground.  
  
Kagome walked to the edge of the cliff. "Inuyasha look!" Claw marks were etched into the cliff edge, and at the very bottom of the ravine the half-demon could just make out the body of the lizard demon. But there was no sign of Karma or Sesshoumaru.  
  
"See!" Jaken squeaked, "I TOLD you they fell!"  
  
Tess burst into fresh tears, Kagome put an arm around her and looked imploringly at Inuyasha. The half-demon stared grimly down the ravine. Then he swung Jaken around and held him squabbling over the edge. "You are going to take us to Sesshoumaru's den. Or I drop you."  
  
"Y--Yes!" The toad gasped frantically, "I'll take you!" 


	12. Walking the Toad and Keeping the Karma

Happy Author's Note: YES!!!!!!!! After all this time I've finally gotten another chapter up!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy! *sniffle.sniffle* Ever since school started in August (blah!) I've been so busy with it that I couldn't find the time to continue my fanfics! But now I think I can balance school AND my stories on fanfiction.net! So even though this chapter isn't very VERY long, please bear with me!  
All my love and God Bless!  
~Dragonwing~  
  
Twelve  
  
"Hurry up!" Inuyasha snapped at the toad attached to the leash he was gripping.  
"I am! Jeeze!" Jaken squawked, only to be jerked back by the irritated half-demon. "Look," Inuyasha snarled, "Either you shut up and get moving or we go back and I toss you over a cliff!"  
"Alright! Alright!" The little toad started scuttling so fast he actually lifted his captor off of his feet! "Don't worry," Kagome was still consoling Tess as they walked a few yards behind Inuyasha. "Jaken knows he'd better take us to the right place or we let Inuyasha have his way with him." Sango nodded and put her arm around Tess.  
"You're right," Tess sniffled, "I know you're right. It's just I don't know what I'll do if we can't find Karma!!" The redhead began to bawl yet again. Walking a few yards behind the girls, Miroku and Shippo covered their ears. "Is Tess ever going to stop crying?" Shippo asked the monk. "I think the only way that girl is going to stop crying is when we find Karma." Miroku sighed and tightened his grip on his staff. "If that demon has hurt her..." "'If that demon has hurt her' what?" Shippo asked. Miroku smiled grimly, "Well, let's just say there are several individuals in this group who will try their best to rip him to shreds." "That's right!" The little kitsune scuffled around Miroku as they walked, boxing with an invisible opponent, "We're gonna get that mean old Sesshoumaru!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Karma didn't know how long she had been knocked out, she couldn't really remember how she got knocked out, all she knew when she woke up was that she was definitely not in the woods anymore.  
She was in a large room that looked like something out of a King Arthur movie. The walls were covered with tapestries, curtains and veils hung down from several different hooks in the ceiling. To her left, a large wooden door trimmed with silver led out of the room. To her right, huge bay windows opened out onto a stone balcony. Sunlight spilled in onto the bed, she was becoming quite warm. Several pieces of wooden furniture draped with silks were scattered along the walls. The bed she was lying in took up most of the space in the room even though the headboard was pushed against the wall. Multicolored pillows surrounded her and the bed itself was so soft Karma really didn't want to get up. 'This must be Sesshoumaru's home.' Karma thought, but then she remembered how terrified she had been after the demon had flung her onto the cloud. She was certain he was going to change into the giant dog she herself had drawn and painted many times. How had she become unconscious? Karma was positive she hadn't fainted, but then again, maybe she had. She didn't really know what she was capable and not capable of anymore.  
Karma jerked up as the door creaked open. A little girl with black hair and large eyes peeked into the room. Karma watched as she slipped in, one hand clutched the corner of her pink kimono and the other was balancing a cup of hot tea. 'I know this girl.' Karma thought, her sleepy memory kicking into action. 'What is her name? And what is she doing in Sesshoumaru's home...Oh! That's Rin!'  
"Hello," the child smiled brightly and handed Karma the tea. "I thought you might be up soon so I brought you something to warm you up." Karma didn't have the heart to tell the girl that she was burning up from the sun beating down through the window. So she took a long drink of the tea and smiled at her small visitor. "Thank you," Karma put the drink on the night table.  
"My name is Rin!" the girl bounced onto the bed, "Your name is Karma, my father told me! He said you are going to be with us for a while, do you want to play with me when you feel all better?" Karma was angry with Sesshoumaru for just assuming she would stay put just because he said she would. But then she saw how innocent and happy Rin looked to have her there, and she would never want to hurt her. 'Alright,' Karma though, 'I'll play along for now Sesshoumaru, but I'm not telling you whatever it is you want to know. And as soon as I get the chance, I'm going to find a way to get back to Tess.'  
"Sure," Karma smiled at Rin, "I'd love to play with you." 


	13. Kimonos Can Leave You Speechless

Author's Note: Can you believe it's been this long since I last put a chapter up??!! I actually started on this chapter in late 2005, when I was better recovered from that wreck, but WAY too many events have happened between then and now, both good and bad, but either way I've finally gotten back into the swing of things and…well…here's the next chapter! (Bare with me if it isn't very long!)

God Bless!

Dragonwing

Thirteen

Rin laughed as she poked her head out of the pile of kimonos she'd brought out for Karma to try on. Karma was behind a screen trying on a light blue kimono embroidered with gold and silver cranes.

"I certainly hope this one fits," Karma mumbled from inside the layers of blue silk, "I've tried on, what, twenty kimonos so far?"

"Sixteen, actually." Rin giggled, "Do you want help tying your obi?"

"Sure," Karma came out from behind the screen and squatted down so Rin could take the ends of the silver obi.

"This one is really pretty," Rin said, "Your eyes look bluer, and it makes your hair look like honey!"

"Thanks, I think!" Karma laughed, she had to admit to herself that she was having fun with the little girl. She'd slept for another whole day before feeling well enough to get up and bathe. Then Rin had brought out some of the most beautiful kimonos she had ever seen. They'd been trying to find one that fit right for over an hour.

"There, done!" Rin announced. She bounced around to take a look at Karma, "Oh! It's perfect Karma! Look in the mirror!" The tiny girl ran over to the dresser and pulled both doors open so Karma could look into each mirror on the back of the doors.

"Oh my……is that _me_?" Karma gasped. She hadn't expected to look so………pretty. The blue silk hugged her waist and draped just right around her shoulders. Rin was right, the colors did make her eyes and her hair stand out.

"It sure is!" Rin giggled, "Father won't even recognize you!"

'_Sesshoumaru!_' Karma thought angrily, '_I can't believe I actually let myself forget……_'

"Karma? Karma!" Rin was tugging worriedly on her sleeve, "Are you ok?"

"What?" Karma looked down at the sweet little girl who believed that she was there because she wanted to be, not because Sesshoumaru had dragged her here. "I'm fine sweetheart," Karma sighed, "Come on, why don't we put up the rest of these kimonos and then you can show me around, ok?"

The search party had stopped to rest for the night. Jaken was slumped against the tree Inuyasha had tied him to. Tess had collapsed into a fitful sleep as soon as they had finished setting up camp. Shippo wasn't far behind her. Sango and Miroku went to scout the area and make sure there weren't any demons around.

"Do you think we'll really be able to find them, Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered so she wouldn't wake Tess or Shippo.

"Hmmf." He snorted, "I think we will be able to find them, but I don't know how long it will take. Sesshoumaru has the advantage of speed. He could already be at his lair or where ever it is he is going."

"Are we sure that stupid toad is taking us in the right direction?" Kagome slid a suspicious glance at the exhausted Jaken.

"Yes, I'm sure." Inuyasha sighed, "Don't worry, ok Kagome? I promise we'll find her."

"Alright," Kagome yawned and got ready to get some sleep, "See you in the morning."

"Yeah, sure." Inuyasha got up and stretched, "I'll keep watch until Sango and Miroku get back."

Rin skipped along as she gave Karma a tour of Sesshoumaru's home. It was even bigger than Karma had imagined. Rin took her everywhere except for Sesshoumaru's rooms, those were locked. The house was amazing, but Karma didn't see Sesshoumaru anywhere, and she had more than one bone to pick with him.

They had a small lunch in the kitchen, then Rin took Karma out into the gardens. Karma had glimpsed them through the windows earlier, they were some of the most beautiful gardens she had ever seen. They were winding their way down one of the many stone paths when Karma finally caught sight of Sesshoumaru. He was sitting on a large slab of rock and he seemed to be meditating. Karma started to march over there and give the demon a piece of her mind.

Rin grabbed the back of Karma's kimono, "No, Karma, don't! Father can't be bothered when he's meditating! It's bad for his concentration."

Karma willed herself not to be angry at the small girl, "Well, it's very important that I talk to him, Rin. I really don't think it can wait."

"What can't wait?" Sesshoumaru's eyes were still closed as he turned his head towards Rin and Karma.

Karma crossed her arms and glared at the demon, just because he couldn't see her at the moment didn't mean she couldn't give him a dirty look. "Well, let's just say there are some important things we need to discuss."

"I really don't think it's that important," Sesshoumaru started to turn back.

"Now hang on just a minute!" Karma stalked around to stand in front of the demon, with Rin tagging along worriedly behind her.

"What?" Sesshoumaru opened his eyes, and stared at Karma. The sun at her back was streaming through her golden hair and reflecting off of the blue silk she was wrapped in. "I…I…" For the first time in many years, Sesshoumaru was at a loss for what to say.


	14. Promises

Author's Note: Once again, I pre-apologize if the chapter is kinda short! But hopefully it won't be! Let me know what you think! Thanks everybody!

God Bless!

Dragonwing

Fourteen

_-"Karma!!" Tess screamed, trying desperately to catch up with her friend, "Karma!" But soon they were out of sight. She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face, "Karma………"_

"Karma!" Tess woke up with tears streaming down her face. She had been having the same dream every night since Karma was kidnapped. She kept seeing the girl who had become like a sister to her being dragged away by a demon. She kept seeing the dagger he had pointed at Karma's throat, and how there was nothing she could do to stop him. Tess tried to muffle her sobs, but quickly found out she'd already woken someone up. Kagome came over and put her arm around Tess's shoulders.

"Don't worry Tess," Kagome soothed, "I know you're worried about her. But we're going to get her back, I promise."

"I just feel like I could have done something to stop him," Tess cried, "I keep having all of these horrible visions of what that monster could be doing to her! I know I'm probably being the biggest baby about this but...How do we even know she's still alive?" Tess sobbed into Kagome's shoulder.

"I don't know for sure, Tess." the other girl tried to keep from choking up herself, "We just need to have faith that she's ok."

-Karma never did get an answer out of Sesshoumaru that morning. He just stared at her for a few minutes before growling at her and returning to his meditation. Karma was going to go ahead and start shouting at him anyway, but Rin quickly pulled her to the side and begged that she wait until Sesshoumaru was done. She'd grudgingly agreed to wait, what she didn't expect though, was that the demon lord spent the rest of the day, that night, and the following morning in the same spot. Meditating rather hard over something...

-Kagome found Inuyasha sitting a little ways outside of their camp that morning. Since he had stayed up on guard duty again all night, she wasn't sure if he was in deep thought, or sleeping.

"Hey," she sat down next to him and hugged her knees to her chest.

"Hmf." The half-demon grunted back, "What is it?"

"Tess had another nightmare last night," Kagome sighed, "This time she woke up crying, I thought she was going to have a panic attack or something."

"Hmmm." Inuyasha opened one eye and looked over at her, "Why can't she toughen up a little bit, huh? We're doing all we can to get the girl back."

Kagome was tempted to say "SIT!", but instead she just sighed and rested her head on her forearms. "Look," she said slowly, "I've been talking to Tess, and she's closer to Karma than she is to even her own mother, or anybody else in her family for that matter. Karma has been there for Tess since they were kids, Inuyasha. Tess feels like she's let her down by not rescuing her the _day_ that Sesshoumaru took her. The fact that it's been over a week is driving her crazy! She's convinced herself that Karma's being tortured, or beaten, or God knows what else. If we don't find Sesshoumaru's lair, or whatever it is, soon...I just don't know what's going to happen..." Kagome closed her eyes and sighed again.

Inuyasha opened his other eye and looked at Kagome. He hesitated for a moment before draping his arm lightly around her shoulders. "Hey," he said.

Kagome looked up at him in surprise, "Yes?"

He looked into her eyes, "The other night I promised that we would get her back and make Sesshoumaru pay, didn't I?" Kagome nodded. "Then that's what we're gonna do," Inuyasha growled a bit and gave her shoulder a light squeeze to emphasize what he said, "Alright?"

Kagome surprised him by suddenly smiling and letting her head fall onto his shoulder, "Ok, I trust you."

Inuyasha tensed up for a second before finally relaxing. He decided to enjoy the moment as long as he could before Kagome found something to get mad at him about and started yelling "SIT!"

-Karma and Rin were sitting in Sesshoumaru's vast library when he finally came in from meditating. She had been reading to the little girl from a book of fairy tales for the past hour, and was also mentally kicking herself for having the strong urge to dive into Sesshoumaru's collection of ancient books and scrolls the second she was through reading to Rin.

They were half-way through a fable that sounded an awful lot like 'Beauty and the Beast' when Rin jumped off of her lap with a cry of, "Father!" The little girl ran to the demon standing in the library's doorway and threw herself into his arms. Karma couldn't help but notice how happy Rin looked, and how...human Sesshoumaru looked as he hugged the little girl. Of course, Karma knew better. The memory of being thrown onto an unbelievably firm cloud with enough force to knock the air out of her lungs, and feeling terrified when she looked up to see the demon's reddening eyes flashed through her mind. No matter how sweet Rin was, or how nice this house was, Karma couldn't forget that Sesshoumaru _was_ a _demon_, a demon who could kill her in an instant if he wanted to. She also had no doubt that he probably would have killed her that night, if he didn't so badly want to know how she and Tess had gotten there and why they knew what they knew about everyone in this world.

'_It's not like he would believe me anyway,_' Karma thought irritably. Her head snapped up when she heard Rin skip out of the room and the door shut behind her. Now she was alone in the library with the demon lord.

Sesshoumaru was looking at her way too intently again. He glided over to her end of the room and sat down in the chair across from her. He picked up the story book she had laid down on the table that separated them and flipped through it.

"Rin loves these stories," he said absently before placing the book back on the table, "I think I've read all of them to her dozens of times."

Karma sighed and looked out the nearest window, '_What is he getting at?_' she wondered.

Sesshoumaru studied his captive's profile for the first time. Long, honey colored lashes nearly brushed the bridge of her short nose; smooth cheekbones tapered down to a full mouth and stubborn chin. He hadn't really taken the time to look at her closely, not even that night in the cave when they were practically nose to nose as she had helped him sit up. Of course, pain had been the more important attention getter at the time. His back was completely healed now, though he had noticed a thin scar running down the place where she had sewn the wound up. Today she was in a light green kimono with cherry blossoms embroidered on it. Rin certainly had enjoyed dressing the girl up. He was just thankful she hadn't worn that blue kimono again, something about the way it made her look...when he'd opened his eyes...he just couldn't speak. She was more attractive than she gave herself credit for. He couldn't understand at all why she cut her hair so short. It was barely three or four inches long, though still thick and somewhat attractive. But to see that honey colored hair spilling down into her eyes and past her shoulders, that would be...'_STOP that!_' Sesshoumaru commanded himself. That was not the reason she was here. It was only a matter of time before his half brother found them, he was positive they had captured that stupid Jaken, who was no doubt leading them to him at this very moment to save his own little skin. He needed to find out what he wanted to know and then...what would he do then? Take her back? Try and keep her with him? But why would he want to keep her? She was just a human...but Rin did like her a great deal...

"_What_ are you looking at?" Karma had turned back and caught him studying her.

"Nothing," Sesshoumaru waved away the question, "I think it's time we got down to those answers I want."

"Are you kidding?" Karma snapped, "No way! How about you tell me why you launched me like a sack of potatoes onto that stupid cloud thing of yours and then did whatever else it was that you did to make me pass out? What was the point of all that? Leaving in the middle of the night like that? I've still got a bruise on my...well, I'm not going into that. But the least you can do is offer me an apology!" She crossed her arms and glared stubbornly at the demon sitting across from her, whose mouth had dropped open lower and lower throughout Karma's little speech.

Sesshoumaru began to chuckle at the sheer courage this human girl kept showing him, then he found himself putting his head into his hand to keep himself from laughing any louder. It took a few minutes for the demon lord to compose himself before looking back up at the girl whose own mouth had dropped open a little bit at this rare display of humor.

Karma leaned forward and peered at him, "You have got to be kidding me."

Sesshoumaru found himself leaning in as well, "No, I'm not. You are an amusing little human."

Karma watched the demon's eyes go from hazel to bronze and back again, "I told you not to call me little." she said softly.

Sesshoumaru studied the girl's blue eyes a moment more before speaking, "I tell you what," he allowed his face to draw a little bit closer to hers, "I promise not to call you 'little' anymore, and I will apologize for the midnight leave, if you promise to just talk to me and tell me what I want to know."

Karma leaned in so that their noses were nearly touching, Sesshoumaru could feel the flutter of her breath against his cheek. An emotion that the demon did not recognize flashed through the girl's eyes before she whispered, "I'll think about it."-


	15. Will You Be My Mommy?

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm really getting on a roll here! Just PLEASE let me know what you guys think so I have some insight as to how the story should go from here, ok? Thanks again!

God Bless!

Dragonwing

Fifteen

-At first, Karma wasn't sure if it had been a good idea to get so close to Sesshoumaru's face. An expression she couldn't quite place had flashed across his features when she'd said, _"I'll think about it."_, and for a second she'd thought he was going to get angry, or _something_. Instead he'd just barely nodded his head and left her sitting in the library alone, still leaning forward and slightly confused. She sat there for a while replaying what had just happened over and over in her mind. Why had she leaned in so close? She had just been trying to make a point, but still...

"This cannot be happening!" Karma moaned, putting her face into her hands. "I can't even imagine how Tess is doing, she's got to be so worried! How am I going to get out of this?"

"Who's Tess?"

Karma's head jerked up, Rin was standing in the library doorway looking confused. The little girl came in and kneeled in front of Karma's chair. "Why would this Tess be worried about you? You're safe here with Father and me. Doesn't she know that?" Rin took Karma's larger hand into both of her small ones.

Karma felt tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at the small girl comforting her. "Well, actually no, sweetie. Tess doesn't know that I'm safe. She's my best friend, more like a sister really, and we were...separated. I don't think she has any idea of where I am or how I'm doing..." She used her other hand to ruffle Rin's darker hair, "But don't worry about it, ok? I'm sure she'll be taken care of until I can find her again."

Rin's face looked very serious for a few moments as she thought about what Karma had said, "Well, why don't you just ask Father to find her? He's very good at tracking people down! I bet he could go get her and she could stay with us too!" The little girl squeezed Karma's fingers excitedly, "Then it would be like having TWO mommies! Oh!" She clapped her little hands over her mouth.

The older girl gently took Rin's hands from her mouth, "Rin?" Karma asked softly, "Do you think I'm here to be your mother?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that..." Rin blushed furiously and looked down at her feet, "I know you're not my real mother. I just like you being here and all...Father never told me why you were here. He just said you would be staying with us for a while. I thought...maybe...if you really liked it here and wanted to...you could be my mommy."

Karma didn't say anything. She couldn't. She couldn't promise Rin that she would stay and be her mother. She wasn't even sure if she could get back to Tess or home but...if something happened and they did find a way to get back...Karma refused to promise something that special to the little girl and then have to break it. Also, she couldn't speak because she knew that if she opened her mouth all she would be able to do was cry. Instead, Karma wrapped her arms around Rin, lifted her into her lap and began to rock her back and forth. Rin latched her small arms around Karma's neck, almost as if she was afraid Karma would disappear if she let go. Though she tried to fight it, Karma could feel a few tears sliding down her face as she rocked the little girl who wanted her to be her mother.

- "We have to stop and rest Inuyasha!" Kagome called into the woods where the half-demon had gone to check for any signs of a trail that might lead them to Sesshoumaru's den.

"Oh--my--God," Tess panted as she dropped onto the ground and stretched out her legs, "How big are the Western Lands anyway, Kagome?"

"Pretty big," Kagome plopped down beside of the redhead, "But that's why we split up again, to try and cover more ground."

"But do you think we'll be able to find anything without Jaken?" Tess asked wearily. "I mean, I know Inuyasha's got a good nose and everything, but maybe we should have held onto him instead of letting the others take him."

Inuyasha came back into view, "Nothing that way," he growled, "I'm going to go check this side." He disappeared again into the trees.

"Fine," Kagome called weakly, "We'll stay here."

Somewhere in the forest, the girls heard an obvious "Feh!", but they chose to ignore it for the moment.

"We've covered a LOT of ground, you know." Kagome said, trying to lift Tess's spirits some, "There's no way we aren't getting at least a little close. I'm sure we'll meet up with the others soon enough."

"I hope you're right," Tess stifled a yawn and looked at their surroundings. "All this land has become such a blur, I wouldn't be able to tell you where we are even if I wanted to."

"Damn!" Inuyasha landed a few yards away from Kagome and Tess, both girls jumped.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

"I had their scent back before we split up from Sango, Miroku, and Shippo," The half-demon growled, "But now it's like the entire trail just vanished into thin air! Sesshoumaru probably got tired of traveling on foot and decided to fly to his den, or something." he squatted onto the ground angrily, "There's got to be a way to get a better view on this..." They were all silent for a while before Inuyasha suddenly jumped up, "Be right back!" he growled before dashing away.

"Sometimes I think I will never understand him," Kagome mused.

"I know," Tess said without thinking. Then, realizing what she had just said, the exhausted redhead moaned and let her forehead rest on her knees. "Sorry..."

"Oh, yeah, right," Kagome whispered, "The whole 'global television show' thing...Say Tess?"

"Yeah?"

"You've heard everything that everyone has been thinking ever since I got here, right?"

Tess shifted into a cross-legged position, "Yes, that's right."

Kagome looked a little embarrassed, "Do you think you could tell me, you know, what everyone thinks about me? You know like Sango, or Lady Kaede, or...Inuyasha?"

Tess's smile was a little sad, she knew how everyone really felt. They all liked Kagome, even Inuyasha, though he had a funny way of showing it. She thought about telling Kagome a little about what the others were thinking. But, at the same time, she knew it wouldn't be fair to anyone, not even Kagome. "I'm sorry," Tess reached out and briefly squeezed Kagome's hand, "I'd love to tell you but...it's just better to let you find out certain things one your own. That's how they're supposed to happen."

"I understand," Kagome sighed, "I just wish---"

Inuyasha suddenly came crashing down from the top of a nearby tree, "Come on!" he shouted at the two stunned girls, "I picked up a scent! It's only about ten miles from here. I don't know how I missed it or how old it is, but it's a good lead. Let's go!" He growled impatiently as Tess and Kagome climbed onto his back.

'_Oh please,_' Tess prayed, '_PLEASE let this clue lead us to Karma!_'


	16. The Toad Returns

Author's Note: Hey everyone, I am SO SORRY I wasn't able to put this up before I left! Well, I'm back now and that's the point! Also, I'm pre-apologizing for this chapter being a little short……had short notice and all that. Well, enjoy!

Dragonwing

Sixteen

--Inuyasha drug the two exhausted human girls through the forest, tree branches whipping into their faces and hair. He was hell-bent on catching the whiff of a signal he'd gotten just moments before, and they were getting closer.

Finally, he halted by the mouth of a large cave. Inside, were the remains of a long dead fire surrounded by a mesh of foot and hand prints, and more than one pile of cloths crusted over with blood. The half-demon's nose wrinkled when he sniffed the nearest pile. "They were here alright," he spat, "That's Sesshoumaru's blood all over that pile," Inuyasha moved to another, "This one too. Actually, I think all of this is his blood except for a few strips that smell like Karma."

"Oh my God!" Tess looked around the cave and hugged her arms against her chest, "What happened here?"

"Sesshoumaru probably was injured by that demon," Kagome said, "And it looks like some one helped him take care of the wounds."

"Not Karma!" Tess frowned, "She wouldn't actually HELP him, would she?"

"Don't know……" Inuyasha kicked the cold ashes and watched them swirl in the air, "But one thing's for sure, they left in a hurry and it's been several days."

"Do you think you can follow the trail?" Kagome crossed her arms, "Because I, for one, don't want to stay in this cave anymore. All this dried blood stinks."

Inuyasha "humphed" and took one last look around the cave, "I think I can pick something up. You two ready to go?"

"Yes," Tess said firmly as they left the cave, "If it will get us closer to Karma, then let's go!"

"Alright!" The half-demon hoisted the two girls onto his back and took off into the woods. Inuyasha picked up the pace when he got a strong whiff of his half brother's trail. "We've got you now, Sesshoumaru!" he growled into the wind.

--All was quiet at the demon lord's manor. Karma and Rin had settled down in one of the sitting rooms with a few books and some snacks. Sesshoumaru was watching them from the doorway. His adopted daughter had quickly grown attached to the young woman. She seemed happier having another female around the house, and he was even beginning to think it would not be so bad if Karma stayed with them. But what of her friend and his half brothers band of idiots? He had no doubt that in his hast he'd left a trail his little brother could easily pick up if he tried. What would happen when they reached his home? He knew what he'd like to do to the whole lot of them, excluding Karma's friend perhaps……..

Rin's laughter brought him out of his thoughts and back to the present. The little girl was enjoying whatever story Karma was telling her, both were wearing shorter, lavender kimonos with white obi's. From the way they were acting, it looked as if Karma could be the girl's sister……or mother.

"Father! Come sit with us!" Rin was suddenly at his side, tugging on his sleeve. "Please! Please come sit while Karma reads!"

He started to decline when Karma's voice rang out, "Oh, come on. Don't be so stiff." She'd spoken while looking through a pile of books on the floor and didn't actually look in his direction until she'd selected one and pulled it from the stack. Karma looked calmly at the demon lord, who'd begun to let Rin pull him across the room. He resigned himself to joining and sat on a cushion across from his daughter and Karma. Without looking at Sesshoumaru any more, Karma pulled Rin into her lap so the child could see the book as well, and began to read.

Sesshoumaru didn't know how much time had passed, but had allowed himself to be lulled by the woman's steady voice. He wasn't even sure what the story was about, all he knew was that for the first time in a long time, he was completely relaxed. That is, until a loud crash rang through the room and glass was scattered everywhere. He instinctively covered Karma and Rin from the shower of glass, growling as little pieces nicked his back and ears. Sesshoumaru turned to destroy whoever had just broken into his home when he heard:

"Pleas! Milord! It's me!" The toad Jaken crawled out from behind a chair near the window. "I'm sorry I had to break in like that Milord, but I couldn't get in the front. I've escaped those stupid, barbaric……" He stopped when he saw Karma and Rin sitting together with the books, and the extreme anger in his Lord's eyes. "That is, I, um, escaped and came to warn you Milord! I passed Inuyasha and two of the women on my way here! And the one's who had me, the monk and the other woman, they aren't far behind them! They'll be here in less that three days!!"


	17. Going Home

Author's Note: Originally this was supposed to be the FINAL chapter of "The Inuyasha Experience". But, after I completed the entire chapter it was SO LONG I felt that it was too much to put up at one time. So, I've decided to split it into two parts. Part 1 is being posted today, giving people time to read it, and Part 2 will be posted tomorrow! My last attempt at an evil cliffy!! So please humor me? Anyway, here is Part 1, please read and enjoy and let me know if you think you can handle the END of the story!

Thank you for your patience,

Dragonwing

Seventeen

--Karma sat staring out of her bedroom window. It was nearly dawn, but she couldn't even think of sleeping after the news Jaken had brought. Without saying a word, Rin had solemnly taken her hand and led her back to her room, and Karma had a vague feeling that someone came and locked the door not long after the little girl had left. But she didn't care. All she could think about was Tess and the others, they were going to find her! But then her mind would drift to Rin……and Sesshoumaru. For a brief moment, she had let herself feel comfortable with them, almost like they were a family. That was absurd though! Wasn't it?

She sighed and turned back towards the room. The oil lamp that was lit when she'd gotten there had long since burned out. Leaving the lavish room in shadows, it made all of the colorful tapestries look grey and old. Even her kimono, though it still shined in the weak light of the coming dawn, didn't look as enchanting as she'd remembered. She'd changed into her first kimono, the blue one, without even realizing it.

'_I've been under a spell,_' Karma thought, '_Not a real spell but a spell my own mind put upon me._' She slowly walked around the room, touching random objects as she passed them. When she made it to the door, Karma placed her hand on the warm wood, feeling the intricate carvings on its face. She rested her forehead against it for a brief moment before gripping the iron doorknob and trying to open it. The door was locked. Karma slid down to the floor, completely exhausted and unsure for the first time in her life. She sank down into the nest her layers of kimono created and fell asleep.

--The two search parties finally met up with each other sometime during the night. All were relieved that they'd found each other before reaching Sesshoumaru's home.

Sango and Miroku told how they let Jaken go on purpose once they were sure they were close to Sesshoumaru's lair. Kagome made a weary Tess lie down and get some sleep before they set out the next day. The rest of the group sat around the fire and discussed what they were going to do.

"I say we go in and cut the bastard's head off for putting us through this." Sango said and dug the heel of her boot into the ground.

"Something a little more subtle might be in order," a nasal voice said from Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Miyoga!" Kagome hissed, "A great time for you to show up! Where have you been the whole time we were looking for Karma?"

"Calm down." The flea hopped onto the end of Miroku's staff, "I have news from Lady Kaede." Everyone hushed and paid attention. "She has found a way to send Karma and Tess home. But it's very risky and must be done exactly right, or catastrophe could occur."

"What is it?" Inuyasha growled.

The flea somehow produced what looked like a small, blue marble. Kagome took it as Miyoga gave instructions: "She was able to harness the power of the storm that brought the two girls here in the first place. She said that there were many forces at work here and that certain future events couldn't be foretold due to the strong magics involved. However, she said all Karma and Tess have to do is empty their minds of nothing but the image of themselves returning home, break the bead, and the same storm that brought them here should send them back. Apparently they had to have wanted to come here in order for the storm to transport them in the first place, so all they have to do is repeat the scenario backwards."

"This is a little confusing……" Miroku mumbled.

"Who cares? As long as it will get them wherever they belong! All we have to do is get Karma away from Sesshoumaru long enough for them to work the magic and we're done. Right?" Inuyasha huffed. He would have liked an answer, but the flea was gone again.

Kagome looked at the tiny bead as the firelight reflected off of it, "But, perhaps they were _meant_ to be here for something?"

--Sesshoumaru glared out into the distance. Dawn was just breaking. He could _feel_ Inuyasha's presence now. How could he have been foolish enough to let his half brother get that close without noticing him? It was because of Karma, he knew that much to be true. He had begun to feel so comfortable having her around, he'd practically forgotten why he'd taken her in the first place. Sesshoumaru dug his claws into the rail of the stone balcony he was standing on.

'_No more!_' He thought angrily, '_If they want her that badly they can have her! Except for one thing._' The demon lord whirled around and flung the door to his chambers open. His demon speed carried him to Karma's door in a matter of seconds. Sesshoumaru noticed that the door was locked from the outside.

'_Jaken._' Sesshoumaru thought disgustedly, '_That imbecile should be thrown off of a cliff._' He winced involuntarily as if the mention of such an incident brought pain with it. More than one kind of pain perhaps.

He threw open the door to find the lamp burned down and the partially risen sunlight streaming through the window. Karma was curled up on the floor, nearly swallowed by her kimono. The blue kimono that she'd first put on and made him speechless. It had a similar affect now. He just stood there and stared at her. She was breathing deeply, her blond hair just brushing against her face. Karma was so still, she almost looked like a sleeping doll.

Feeling his earlier anger seeping away, he knelt down and scooped her up. She stirred and then rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her to her bed. Laying her down, Sesshoumaru sat on the edge of the bed and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Karma slowly began to wake up, until she was looking up at him lazily with those blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru asked softly, he felt a strange tightening sensation forming in the back of his throat.

"Karma." She said, her voice still thick from sleep.

"Where are you from?" The demon lord slowly brushed her bangs back again.

"The future." Karma took his hand when he tried to pull it back from her hair and held it. "Like Kagome, only it's different. It's almost like we're from another……universal plane. The storm brought us here."

Sesshoumaru was silent for several minutes, his eyes focused on a point above Karma's head. The tightening in his throat increased, "So how do you know about me? About Inuyasha? About our world?"

She studied his clawed hand before answering, "We think someone from our world knows all about this one but doesn't think it's real. We think that person just thought it was a good idea for a story or something, and now we can watch a version of what happens in this world on devices called televisions. That's all. That's how I knew about you." She looked up at him just as the sun shed its full light into the room. "Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Yes, it _was_." Sesshoumaru finally accepted what the tightness in his throat meant. He took his hand from hers and cupped her face as his other hand caressed her short hair. For what seemed like ages he stayed just like this, looking into those blue orbs that he now realized he was going to miss so much. Leaning over carefully, so as not to crush her, the demon lord brought his lips down onto Karma's and kissed her.

Everything became a warm haze as her soft lips melted into his own. This was the most amazing sensation he'd ever experienced, and now he was going to lose it. Sesshoumaru nearly jumped when Karma wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss herself. He gripped her hair gently and slid his other arm around her waist, pulling her up against him. He wanted to drown in her, to stay like this and forget about everything else. But something in the back of his mind made him stop. He broke the kiss and trailed a few kisses on Karma's face and hair before hugging her close. Sesshoumaru could feel her hands running along his back, tracing the thin, long scar beneath his robes. The scar that she had sewn up all those days ago. Days? It seemed like years to him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sesshoumaru released Karma and sat back. She sat up and looked at him calmly. The tight feeling in his throat threatened to choke him. He finally looked away from her and studied the door. Slowly Sesshoumaru stood, kissed her chastely on the forehead, and walked towards the door.

Without turning around he said, "When Inuyasha and your friend get here, if you want to leave, I won't stop you." The demon lord turned back briefly and looked into her eyes, "But at least explain to Rin if you have to go." Karma looked straight back at him and nodded. Sesshoumaru walked out of the fully lit room, leaving the door open behind him.

--"We're getting close, aren't we?" Tess asked excitedly as they kept up their fast pace through the woods.

"Yep." Inuyasha grinned evilly, "Look out Sesshoumaru!"

They had been traveling for another day and a half, now the sun was reaching the noon point. As they came to the top of a large hill, they spotted Sesshoumaru's home in the distance.

"There it is!" Kagome panted and got out her bow.

"Karma!!" Tess cried, nearly tearing up again.

"Don't start that now!" Miroku barked. Sango whacked him across the back of the head and winked at Tess.

"Let's go!" Inuyasha sped down the hill towards the manor.

They reached the front walkway and Inuyasha was about to charge towards the front door when, it opened, and Karma stepped out. She had her same pack thrown over her shoulder, though it looked a little worse for the wear, but she was dressed in the most beautiful blue kimono any of them had ever seen.

"Oh Karma!" Tess cried and ran towards her friend before anyone could stop her. The small redhead nearly tackled the tall blonde as they hugged each other. "Karma, I was afraid I wouldn't see you again!" Tess began to sob onto her friend's shoulder.

"I know," Karma found herself tearing up as well, "I missed you Lil' Carrot Top."

"Are you hurt?" Tess suddenly jumped away from her and examined her from head to toe, "Did he do anything to you?"

"No," Karma sighed and smiled, "I'm fine. Let's just get out of here, ok?"

"He's just letting you leave?" Inuyasha asked warily. The others had come up behind him. "That doesn't sound right."

"Well he is," Karma looked sternly at the half-demon, "So let's go. I don't want you starting a fight that doesn't need to happen."

They all stared, stunned, at the kimono clad young woman. Nothing was said for a long time. Finally, Inuyasha nodded curtly and began to lead them away from the manor. Tess grabbed Karma's hand as they trailed after the others and squeezed as if to say 'You can tell me about it later'. Karma squeezed back appreciatively, looking over her shoulder one last time at the manor.

In a front window by the door, she could make out a little girl with black hair who was crying. In a window farther up, was the less clear shadow of the demon lord Sesshoumaru, his silver hair visible even from that distance. What she couldn't see, however, was the single tear that was running down his face as well.

--Karma and Tess stood in the clearing outside Lady Kaede's hut. They had chosen to wait and say goodbye and thank you to the old woman before leaving. The journey out of Sesshoumaru's lands was uneventful, Karma didn't talk much about her experience, and no one dared to ask. Karma was still wearing the blue kimono, and Tess was wearing a green one Lady Kaede had given her, though it was far less lavish.

"So that's all we have to do?" Karma asked after Kagome explained the instructions again.

"That's it." The other girl smiled and hugged them. "Take care of yourselves."

"We will!" Tess grinned. They hugged everyone goodbye, even Miroku, and stepped back into the clearing. Karma and Tess joined hands and focused on their home. The apartment with the studio upstairs and all of the anime drawings pinned to the walls. Their beds, jobs, everything about their lives before they were transported to the other world. Karma held out the bead and let it fall to the ground. Everyone could _feel_ the power that burst from the bead. Immediately, the wind picked up, howling around them. Clouds appeared out of nowhere, filling the sky with blackness. Just as the rain came pouring down and the lightning began to strike, Karma swore that she felt someone brush her wet hair off of her forehead. But then there was a loud crack of lightning and everything went dark.


	18. What I Wanted

Author's Note: Ok! Here is Part 2 of the end of "The Inuyasha Experience"! (I suppose I didn't take into account how the chapter would show up online, so it wasn't as long as I thought it would be, but on my computer it was like 12 pages! So……what are you gonna do?)

Well, this is it. After four years, (WOW! FOUR YEARS!), the story has finally come to a close. It may not be the ending that everyone wanted, it may not fit the rest of the story, I don't know. All I know is that at this turning point in my life, starting college and all of that, it seemed appropriate and it satisfies me. Please **read** and **review** just the same!! So here it is! The final chapter of "The Inuyasha Experience"! Thank you to everyone who stayed loyal during the good chapters and the bad, I don't think any other fanfic I will ever write will mean as much to me as this one.

Thank you again,

God Bless,

Dragonwing

--Karma woke up and found herself, in her pajamas, looking at the mural she'd painted on her bedroom ceiling when she and Tess had first moved into the apartment. She was flooded with a mix of emotions and felt as if her body were made of lead.

'_It was just a dream…_' She found an unexplainable urge to cry spring up in her chest as she sat up in her bed. '_I can't believe it was just a--_" But then she saw it, the beautiful blue kimono hanging on the outside of her closet door. The material shined just as brightly as it did when Rin first put it on her.

Karma slowly got out of bed and padded across the carpet to the kimono. She barely traced her fingertips over the intricate weaving and tears sprang up in her eyes. Just then, the door opened and Tess popped her head in.

"Oh good! You're up." The redhead came in with a hot cup of tea and handed it to her. Karma had a brief flashback of someone else waking her up with a cup of tea, the tears spilled onto her cheeks. "You've been sleeping for nearly two days! It took me forever to get you changed out of that kimono you know." Tess looked worried when she saw that Karma was crying. "It worked, Karma! We're home! We were sent back to the point just before the lightning hit the first time! It's amazing! Aren't you glad?"

"Of course," Karma wiped her eyes and took a long sip of tea, "I just can't believe it really happened, that's all."

"Me neither!" Tess hugged her tight for a moment before stepping back, "But here we are. You know, I was thinking, this might make a great story for the website. What do you think?"

"Maybe," Karma laughed. "You go on down to breakfast and I'll be there in a minute."

"Ok!" Tess practically skipped out of the room. Karma took one more, long look at the kimono before turning and trying to find some clean clothes to put on. She joined Tess downstairs and decided to try and push the memories of Rin, Sesshoumaru, and the kiss out of her mind.

--Nearly a month had passed since their return. For whatever reason, no real time had passed while they were gone. It was as if they'd never left at all. Both women went back to work and Tess started documenting their "adventure" on the website. She called it: "Our Inuyasha Experience: The Adventure of Being Transported Through Time and Space". No story had ever gotten so much praise on their site, of course everyone thought it was just fiction, only Karma and Tess knew the truth. But not even Tess knew just how often Karma was still having nightmares about falling off of that cliff, and how nearly every night she woke up reaching for someone who wasn't there. Even her sketches were filled with images of little girls with black hair, and slender demons with hazel eyes.

Then Karma came home early from work one day feeling the best she'd felt in a long time. It had been a good day. She read the note Tess had left on the kitchen counter, saying she was going to run a few errands. Then she put her things down and got a bottle of water out of the fridge. Feeling the need to be outside, Karma grabbed her sketchbook and went out to sit on the little wicker loveseat on their apartment's small front porch. A lot was going on in the complex that day. The Johnsons from next door were outside playing with their three kids. New neighbors were moving in right across the street from Karma and Tess's apartment. Plus, it looked like old Mr. and Mrs. Cheney from down the street were arguing again. Mr. Cheney only walked their little dog when Mrs. Cheney threw him out of their apartment for something.

She sketched the little dog as Mr. Cheney drug it along the street. Then Karma started sketching the Johnson kids as they were playing. Their identical honey colored hair glinted in the sun as they ran around playing tag. Suddenly though, she looked up and saw another little head bobbing around with the other children, probably the new neighbors' child. It was a little girl in a pink dress with black hair, and Karma felt a pang in her heart when she realized who it reminded her of. She forced herself to focus on her sketch and didn't look up again. But then the little girl started to move closer to Karma, until finally she was only a few feet from the loveseat.

Karma _felt_ the hair on the back of her neck raise up. She looked up into dark brown eyes and a perfect little smile. Her sketchbook and water bottle slipped to the ground and her mouth dropped open.

'_No!_' she thought frantically, '_Am I hallucinating?_'

"I missed you, Mommy." The little girl said. "Father did too."

Karma snapped out of her daze when she heard footsteps on the front walk. She looked up into striking hazel eyes and somehow made it to her feet without falling over. Long, _black_ hair was pulled into a low ponytail at the nape of the man's neck and faded looking crescent tattoos laced his cheekbones. Tall and slender, he only stood a couple of inches taller than Karma. He smiled softly and placed a hand on the girl's head, "Now Rin," his voice was like lightning in Karma's veins, "That's not the right way to greet the person we've come so far to see."

Rin giggled and launched herself into Karma's arms. It was all Karma could do to stay upright and hug the child back at the same time. She buried her face in Rin's hair and held her tight. Tears began to fall down her face as she looked back up at the man.

"S--Sesshoumaru?" Karma squeaked as Rin finally let her go. "H--How? What…? Is this what you _both_ really want?" The man stepped forward and, in one graceful motion, wrapped one arm around her waist and ran the other hand through her hair, which she had decided the day before to let grow out this year.

"Yes, it is." He drew her close and kissed her. The rest of the world faded away in that moment, until Rin attached herself to their legs, that is.

Karma looked down at Rin and laughed, and then she turned back to Sesshoumaru. "But……but what about your world? You leaving could turn _everything_ upside down! Do you know how many events are going to change now that—"

Sesshoumaru placed a finger on her lips to silence her sputtering. "Will you please calm yourself, little human?" he smirked at the indignant noise she made, "Rin, go play with your new friends for a few minutes." The little girl skipped off and he turned back to Karma. "Everything has been taken care of. We found a demon that was more than happy to take my place and be 'Lord Sesshoumaru'. Your friend Lady Kaede assured me that no one would know the difference. And as for Rin, well let's just say Jaken is probably trying to keep up with a very convincing simulation." He smiled when Karma laughed, her blue eyes sparkling. "Though I did have to give up something in order to come here……"

Karma looked at him, confused, for a moment. She'd noticed his hair color was different, but there was more……His eyes, while still the same color, had normal pupils. She reached down and took one of his hands, there were no claws. Even the marks on his face looked more like birthmarks than anything else.

Suddenly Karma gasped, "You're _HUMAN_!"

He smirked wryly, "Yes, for the most part, I am. While I am now even _less_ of a demon than _Inuyasha_, there is still some demon in my blood."

"Whoa." Karma felt dizzy all of a sudden, "But why? Why would you give up everything you had to come here? Do you really want this?"

"All I really had was Rin," Sesshoumaru sighed, "And she needed more than I could give her. When you were with us, she was so happy……and I was as well. This is difficult for me to say……" He looked away at Rin for a moment, then looked Karma in the eyes. "Out of anything I've ever wanted……everything else pales next to this. I refuse to let my one chance to be happy slip away, nor Rin's. She cares so much about you and I……I love you, Karma."

Karma looked up at him through misty eyes and grinned. "I love you too." She threw her arms around his neck, "Oh, I do! I love you!" Suddenly Karma pulled back and raised an eyebrow, "Tess will never believe this, will she?"

"She will eventually." Sesshoumaru smiled and kissed her again.

'_Yes,_' He thought after they parted and Rin came running back over to hug Karma again. '_I do believe this is what I've always wanted._'

Karma caught his eye and smiled at him, nodding as if she'd read his thoughts. This is what they both wanted, a family.

The End.


End file.
